Exploring Santee Alley: The heart of the Downtown Los Angeles Fashion District

Where fashion and hard work meet to create flourishing small businesses.

In the epicenter of the Fashion District, Santee Alley is a marketplace of vendors and small shops displayed throughout the alleys of downtown.

On the corner of Maple Avenue and 11th Street, Hidden Couture Fashion boasts a wide selection of wholesale Indigenous and Latine clothing.

Before stores open at 9:30, shop owners, employees and delivery service workers rush to stock the stores with new merchandise and products.

Located on the outskirts of Santee Alley, roaming customers can find store manager Gaston opening the Parisian fashion store Ms. Paris, which is one of the many small businesses selling couture clothing at discounted prices.

Santee Alley businesses fully open their shops by 10:30 a.m. before the midday rush floods the alleyways of downtown.